Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 134
June 29, 2015
13 Tips for Cozy Mystery Writers
This is another in my series on Genre Writing Tips. I hadn’t really thought about cozy mysteries as I worked through from Children’s Books to Steampunk. A member of my critique group reminded me because that’s what she writes. Cozy mysteries, in the style of Murder She Wrote–tricky but non-gory plots with eminantly cheerful characters that you’d like for a best friend.
That’s about all I knew about them, so I polled my PLN and Tweeple and anyone I could find about what the characteristics of ‘cozy mysteries’ were. Here’s what I got:
The mystery is not bloody or ghoulish. It’s softened, the gory parts alluded to rather than spelled out.
The lead character is likely to be an amateur detective, akin to Murder She Wrote, rather than seasoned as you’d find in a detective mystery.
The reader likely will identify with the main character so s/he can be flawed but in a human way. For example, a Backstrom-like character (a cigar-smoking alcoholic with a knack for solving crimes)–or Dexter (a likeable serial killer)–would never lead a cozy mystery. Agatha Christie’s Ms. Marple would (although, not the Ms. Marple starring Joan Hickson. Of course, I’ve only watched one so far, may not watch the rest).
Since the main character is NOT a detective, rather an amateur, s/he often has a good friend/mate/confidante who is knowledgeable and can pass along important information to her.
Character development of the lead character is important. S/he is robustly fleshed out so the reader thoroughly understands their motivation, weaknesses and strengths.
While most novels require growth in the characters, that’s not so important in cozy mysteries. Often, the mystery has thrown our beloved main character out of sorts. and the goal is to return her/him to normal by solving the mystery. The need that s/he experience personal growth is secondary.
The feeling of the book is ‘fun’, not stressful. Often, this is because the main character is bumbling through an important job s/he’s an amateur at, but it could be generated by the other characters, setting, or plot points.
The setting is likely to be a small, picturesque town or village.
Very little sex is included. If there is any, it’s subtle and dealt with invisibly.
Lots of these novels have long-term love interests, but not all.
There is little or no profanity or violence.
The story has a happy ending–the criminal is brought to justice and balance is restored.
Right and wrong are clearly defined; there’s no moral dithering. Murder is wrong and catching the guilty returns society to its rightful balance.
If you want more on cozy mysteries, read this very thorough guide to cozy mysteries (it has just about everything) and MysteryCozy.com has a series of fascinating articles on this genre.
More characteristics of writing genres:
14 Tips for Young Adult Writers
10 Tips for Picture Book Writers
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman
, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: Genre tips
June 26, 2015
Michael’s Newest Release–Davidia’s Seed
I’ve hosted Michael Smart here on my blog several times, once in a conversation on POV and another time, his thoughts on the importance of words. On June 15th, Michael released his latest book, Davidia’s Seed, a science fiction adventure about two strangers brought together by fate who now must decide the future of their worlds.
This is Michael’s fourth novel and first outside his popular Bequia Mysteries series.
You can find a sample here.
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: authors, book reviews
June 24, 2015
Tech Tip for Writers #70: Make your desktop icons Big or Little
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I’ll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future Tip.
Q:The desktop icons are tiny on my desktop. I don’t know how it happened, so I don’t know how to undo it. Please help!
A: This solution I learned in self-defense, like many other tips I share, when my students figured it out and made my desktop icons HUGE or tiny. Here’s how you fix that:
Highlight all desktop icons by clicking and dragging a box around them
Push Ctrl and roll the mouse wheel.
It enlarges or delarges for you
That’s it. How wonderful. I no longer have to squint at icons too small for my eyes.
More tech tips for writers:
Tech Tip for Writers #67: How to Add Accents and more
Tech Tip for Writers #65: How to use Google Street View
Tech Tip for Writers #48: Quickly Switch Between Windows
Questions you want answered? Email me at askatechteacher@gmail.com and I’ll answer.
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: tech tips for writers, writers tips
June 22, 2015
How I’m Doing on ‘To Hunt a Sub’
After a four-year hiatus from the first book in my Delamagente-Rowe series, I finally think I’ll get it done. I had a few interruptions–agent interest in the series’ second book, deadline for two non-fic series I write–but I think I’m going to make it this time. The short blurb for this thriller–still a work-in-progress is:
…a brilliant PhD candidate, a cynical ex-SEAL, and a quirky bot team up to stop terrorists from stealing America’s most powerful nuclear weapon, the Trident submarine.
Here’s what I did this week:
finished the final draft. I still have the Prologue to tighten up, but that’s it. Ah, I can almost smell the scent of freshly-printed books awaiting their new owners.
creating a short list (not my usual 101 people) of agents who might be interested. I’d love for this to work because then I don’t have to design the cover, copy edit, arrange printing–but I’m fine self-publishing. Part of what slowed this book down (and the other three I have languishing in the bottom drawer of my desk) was waiting for responses. More importantly: Hoping for acceptances that never arrived. I’m not going down that rabbit hole again.
thought about reviewing my acknowledgements. A lot of people helped me with their knowledge of military procedures, but it’s been awhile and I need to make sure the information is still current.
thought about the cover. I have found a few people who might be able to help with that.
thought about a copy editor. Like the cover, I have a few names, maybe narrowed down to one. I’m crossing my fingers
not yet thinking about marketing. Maybe that’ll show up on the next update.
not yet thinking about a book trailer. I’ve seen some I like done with a free tool like Animoto. That’s probably the direction I’ll go if I even do this.
By this time next month, I hope to be waiting for responses from agents, starting on my next project.
More on To Hunt a Sub’s progress:
How I’m Doing on ‘To Hunt a Sub’
How I’m Doing on ‘To Hunt a Sub’
How I’m Doing on ‘To Hunt a Sub’
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: To Hunt a Sub
June 19, 2015
My 4 Must-Do Writing Goals This Summer
Summer should carry a warning label–Caution! That sense of lots of time to get everything done isn’t true! Every year, I start summer with a massive ToDo list, and by August, my good intentions have folded in on themselves like a black hole. Thanks to all of your suggestions from about a month ago, I’m going to be more practical this summer.
In my life, I wear two hats–tech teacher and writer. With a lot of coffee, a moderate amount of aspirin, and good luck (which I’ll settle for in the absence of miracles), I see no reason I can’t do both. Here are my top four summer goals:
Online Classes
I’m teaching four online classes in June and July–using online tools, the Tech-infused Teacher, the Differentiated Teacher, and an online keyboarding immersion class. Each is three-five weeks long with lots of online materials, video presentations, and interaction. At the end, you get either college credit or a certificate. I’m excited about these and looking forward to being involved.
Sound like it has nothing to do with writing? Wrong. I spend a lot of time preparing materials, making sure they’re clear, editing/formatting and rewriting to make them appropriate to my audience and goals. Is that familiar? It should be. It’s what authors constantly do. Every time I write, I practice writing. Was I clear? Concise? Did I engage my audience? Did I make them want more? I never throw words out there that haven’t been vetted. It has to do with my credibility and my platform as a writer.
Writing
I’m finishing up my fiction mss, To Hunt a Sub. By July, I hope to send it out to agents. When (if) that doesn’t work, by August/September, I’ll self-pub. Before that can be done, I’ll find a copy editor to check my grammar/spelling, get someone talented to design my cover, and probably get help uploading it to Kindle.
When the mss is finished, I’ll work on a series of non-fiction I write about technology in education. I want to get twelve books done by January. I’ve done two. Hmm…
Along with these writing activities, I write 3-6 posts each week for each of my three blogs, approximately an article a week for ezines I write for, and miscellaneous writing that comes my way.
Online Seminars
I’m not going to any physical conferences this summer, instead, relying on webinars. Here, all attendees sit at their computers wherever they are and watch what is usually a slideshow presentation. We can post questions that are answered in an orderly fashion. Microphones are muted automatically by the presenter. Me, I like interactive participation, but I understand this more passive approach. It limits interruptions and allows more people to attend (GHOs top out at about 10).
MaintenanceI need to clean up my blogs–re categorize posts, fix broken links, that sort. It’s been on my ToDo list for a long time and I never seem to get that far. I’m hopeful this time I will.
There you have it. As I re-read it, I’m already wondering when I’ll sleep, pet the dog and smell the flowers. But I’m a writer. I don’t intimidate easily, so let’s talk again in September. In case you agree with my mother that I do too much, you might notice that last year, the list included seven goals–now I’m only aiming for four. And, check out my efriend Medeia Sharif. She’d have my entire list completed in a month, or less.
What are your summer plans?
More on summer writing:
10 Digital Tricks to Add Zip to Your Roadtrip
Forget Summer Reading. The Classics are Timeless
5 Top Steps to Market Your Books this Summer
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: writing Tagged: goals, summer, writing
June 17, 2015
Tech Tip for Writers #67: How to Add Accents and more
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I’ll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: I have foregin words in my novel and need a quick way to add accents to words. Can you help?
A: You can go through the symbols library, but there’s an easier way. Use the Ctrl key + a symbol + a letter. Here is a table:
Keyboard shortcuts for accents, etc.
You probably always wondered what that key was to the left of the ‘1’, under the tilde.
Questions you want answered? Email me at askatechteacher@structuredlearning.net and I’ll answer it within the next thirty days.
More Tech Tips for writers:
Tech Tips for Writers #54: How to Auto Forward a PowerPoint Slideshow
Tech Tips for Writers #53: How to Pin Any Program to the Start Menu
Tech Tips for Writers #51: Copy Images From Google Images
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: tech tips for writers, writers tips
June 15, 2015
Writers Tips #101: 17 Tips from Writing the Blockbuster Novel
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know you’ve done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer’s tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
When Albert Zuckerman wrote his acclaimed book, Writing the Blockbuster Novel (Writers House Press 1994), he made no apologies for directing this how-to-write book at those who want to pen the big story, the one that vaults a writer to the fore of his art, the script that makes movie makers drool. All novelists aspire to that (in the way all children aspire to be President), but few will achieve it. Nevertheless, the tips he shares serve every story well, even the niche novel that only appeals (though rabidly) to a cult of readers.
Here are the ones that caught my attention:
create a character readers will readily identify with
create a setting in a milieu people would like to visit rather than a poor working-class district of England
offer a big dramatic question that will engage the reader’s attention from beginning to end
give the people in the story a past
have a distinctive voice. It can grow “out of your own special affinity for the English language, out of the rhythms, tones and nuances you hear and weave into your own mind of people’s speech, out of your own highly personal and somewhat skewed vision of the world”
have an eye for detail. This “is more instinctive than acquired. But not for all details, only the most telling ones.”
“The great storyteller has an acuity of perception as sharp as that of a visual artist and can make music in words. Not only in dialogue, but in characters’ thoughts and emotions, in visual perceptions, sounds, smells, palpable sensations, visceral reactions.”
“Create fictional characters deeply involved with each other… It’s only about such characters that readers care. And for a novel to become popular, and to live on, we the readers must care.”
“Energy, willpower and grit are also qualities … that cannot be taught
“The author who cannot set aside a completed five- or eight-hundred page draft and start all over from page one, throwing out scenes and entire chapters, altering and enriching relationships, characters and locales, intensifying conflicts and climaxes, is also unlikely to attain the high level of sustained drama contained in most best-selling novels.”
“A crucial and unteachable … element in a leading novelist’s toolbox is culture, widespread general knowledge, rich and varied life experience”
“In its essence… a novel is emotion.”
“The first thing to note about a big novel is that what’s at stake is high–for a character, a family, sometimes a whole nation.”
“The life of at least one major character is usually in peril.”
“In many major women’s novels… the principal stake is not life or death but personal fulfillment.”
“A second key characteristic of the mega-best seller is larger-than-life characters
“…the book’s opine–the ongoing central conflict around which its major characters interact, the main issue that drives and unites its myriad scenes–couldn’t be more basic and clear-cut.”
Even if you aren’t writing that ‘high concept’ novel, these are good guidelines.
Time for me to create my checklist (I love checklists) and review my draft with an eye for this list of details. See you in a few days.
If you’d like to purchase this book from Amazon, click the link below:
To have these tips delivered to your email, click here.
More Writer’s Tips:
Writers Tip #98: 18 Tips on Grammar from William Safire
15 Tips for Young Adult Writers
Writers Tips #94: 9 Writing Tips From James Frey
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: book reviews, writers resources, writers tips
June 12, 2015
Book Review: The Mask
The Mask: A Vanessa Michael Munroe Novel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’ve reviewed several of Taylor Stevens’ Vanessa Michael Munroe novels (The Catch, The Doll, The Innocent). I am always excited by how Munroe addresses problems, thinks ten steps ahead, and creatively solves them. With an androgynous name (because she can pass equally as male or female), her storied and violent past seems to be exactly the right cauldron for the troubles that stalk her wherever she goes. Steven’s latest, The Mask (Crown 2015) is another winner. In this, Vanessa is trying to forget the person she’s become–where her predator instincts turn her into an often unwilling hunter–by living with her boyfriend and doing what most of the world considers ‘normal’. Once again, it doesn’t work and she is quickly embroiled in a daunting mystery that threatens to destroy her boyfriend, kill her, and change the world so valued by the people Vanessa aspires to be.
As always, Stevens writing is intelligent. Here, she describes Munroe’s uncanny ability to learn languages in two-three weeks:
Soon enough she would find rhythm in the language, prosody to key the aural lock.
As much as this is a thriller, it is character-driven–and you’ve never met a character like Munroe. She is completely unique–freakish fighting prowess blended with rabid intelligence. Think Xena, the Warrior Princess married to Sherlock Holmes. Read these four snippets–you’ll see what I mean:
She took turns at random [as she walked through Osaka], stopping to compare the quantity and quality of vending machines…; discovered the dichotomy of quiet temples, shrines, and hokora tucked in amid busy city streets; stepped into every shop and restaurant that drew her interest, touching and tasking and breathing and learning, until the evening came and she followed the trail of bread crumbs through Osaka’s crowded footprint home.
Want built tight inside her chest, her skin tingling, itching for the pain to follow and for the violence that would scratch the itch.
…hurt ceased to exist because all that mattered from one heartbeat to the next was whatever it took to stay alive.
There was that wobble again, the gravitational pull of the thing she’d not yet placed.
By page 53, she’d grabbed me–again–and I had to finish. Read at your own risk, when you have plenty of free time.
If you’d like to purchase this book on Amazon, click the link below:
More character-driven books:
Book Review: Master and Commander
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: book reviews
June 10, 2015
Tech Tip for Writers #66: Zoom In/Out of Websites
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I’ll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: I can’t read the internet page. How do I zoom out of a browser window?
A: There are a few ways, but here’s one I always forget about–and it’s the simplest of all: hold down the “Ctrl” key and move your “mouse scroll wheel”. One direction zooms in; the other zooms out.
There are two other ways:
Ctrl+ (the plus sign next to backspace) will zoom in one step at a time; Ctrl- will do the same zooming out
Go to the menu bar. Select ‘View’, ‘Zoom’ and either ‘Zoom in’ or ‘Zoom out’
To return to the original setting, hold down the “CTRL” key and hit the number zero.
Take a moment to try it while I get a cup of coffee… OK–how’d it go?
Questions you want answered? Email me at askatechteacher@structuredlearning.net and I’ll answer it within the next thirty days.
More Tech Tips for writers:
Tech Tip for Writers #59: Shortkey for the Copyright Symbol
Tech Tip for Writers #56: Force a New Page
Tech Tips for Writers #55: Find a Lost Shortcut
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: tech tips for writers, writers tips
June 5, 2015
Book Review: Bitter Creek
Bitter Creek
by Peter Bowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
After I finished Tony Hillerman’s 18-book Joe Leaphorn series, stories soaked in the Indian culture of New Mexico, I went in search of another like it. You know, with a down-to-earth character who doesn’t know how to live life except by a rigid moral code in a backwater town. I found CJ Box‘s 16-book (and counting) Joe Pickett series, set in the gorgeous sometimes cold and desolate world of Wyoming, where nature is not only a setting, but a character, plot point, and the motivation for huge chunks of the action. Truly, I figured I’d never find another series like that.
And then Peter Bowen’s Bitter Creek (Open Road 2015) showed up in my Amazon Vine queue, thirteenth in the Gabriel Du Pre series about a Meti fiddler who develops a local reputation for solving mysteries. In this latest addition to Bowen’s atmospheric series, Gabriel’s girlfriend’s son’s ex-commanding officer hears the voices of long-dead French-Indian murder victims (in a sweat lodge where he is drying out after a drinking binge) who can’t pass on to their final rest until their murders are avenged. DuPre sets out to uncover the truth and bring justice.
An amateur crime solver–doesn’t sound that unique, but a few characteristics set this one apart. First, the story is written in the French prairie patois native to these Montana residents–
“Amalie have my mother she is fifty almost, my mother is some surprise you bet.”
Second, the author effectively slows the world down for readers with his writing voice. Actions are stretched out, time crawls, and readers feels their muscles unwind. Here’s an example:
“The old woman stood up, turned, sat down. She put her feet on the little platform. She nodded to Du Pre…”
Every writer has been lectured about leaving out the unnecessary parts. In this case, ‘break the rules’ is better advice.
Another unusual characteristic of Bowen’s writing style is that the story is written entirely in third person, in DuPre’s point of view. Often, that happens in first person, but most authors use the third person to put readers into many heads, see the world through a wide variety of viewpoints. Not Bowen. It’s all Du Pre, all the time.
And always, there’s a wry humor underpinning thoughts, actions, motivations. Here’s an example:
“When you started out as a cowboy,” Father Van Den Heuvel said, “had the wheel been invented?”
“Saw the first one,” said Booger Tom. “Didn’t think much of it, tell you the truth. Speeded things up. Most of our troubles today come of speedin’ things up…”
Now that I’m past the sadness of finishing both Tony Hillerman and CJ Box’s series, I’m infatuated with this one. I checked the other twelve from my library (the librarian had to order them from other sites–she was quite patient with me) and just finished them all. Sigh.
Has anyone else read this series? What did yo think?
If you’d like more detail on this eclectic cast of characters, read ‘Of Peter Bowen and Gabriel Du Pre’.
More atmospheric books:
Book Review: Master and Commander
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, adjunct professor of technology in education, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today’s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.
Filed under: book reviews
